When faced with setbacks, Xu Xu's reaction had always been different from her peers.
Most young people had strong desires to realize their self-worth, hence they cared more about how they "felt" and what they stood to gain. Only those who had steeled themselves for many years could develop calm qualities such as being unaffected by external gains or personal losses. Some might refer to this sort of calmness as simply being emotionally numb.
Nonetheless, Xu Xu was born to be more concerned about what she should do, rather than defending her ego. The reason she did her research on criminal psychology was purely that it was one of her interests and she was good at it. She did not pay much attention to other people or even her own feelings. This trait of hers made her much calmer, but also made her a less warm person to interact with.
Therefore, even though she indeed felt a temporary grievance after being lectured by Ji Bai, she had completely recovered by the time she walked out of the park's entrance.
It was midnight and the streets were empty, the streetlights had a yellowish dim and it was extremely quiet, owing to the fact that not a soul was in sight. Xu Xu looked at her long, outstretched shadow as she pondered on the lecture she had just received. Ji Bai was actually right. In conclusion, other than saving someone, she had not been very helpful at the scene. She should have just returned to work overtime after the other officers had arrived.
However, what got her interested was what Ji Bai had mentioned about the instinct and experience of a criminal police officer, which was exactly what she lacked. She became slightly happier as she thought about this.
The cold moonlight accompanied the glow of the stars through the long, lonely night.
At last, Xu Xu finished her report. she felt unbelievably exhausted as she stared at the screen full of text.
She slowly realized that her right wrist was numb and sore. Her body felt like it was about to fall apart too. She got up and started stretching her limbs. 'Right, I consumed a lot of energy today. I stanched blood for a victim, ran around the park, and stayed up all night.'
Although she wanted to sleep so badly after she sent the email to Ji Bai, Xu Xu thought for a while and decided to call him.
It was because she had recalled how the phone call went, 'He was angry, wasn't he?'
Even though it was him who had a bad control of his emotions, as his apprentice and a lower-ranked officer, she felt the need to initiate a call to ease their relationship.
She was still aware of the bare essentials required to survive office politics.
In the middle of the quiet night, the robotic beeping sounded extra lonely. His phone rang a few times before he picked it up. He did not immediately speak, but she could vaguely hear somebody breathing on the other end of the line.
"Hello, Captain Ji." Xu Xu started reporting steadily and cautiously. "I've just sent the report to your email, please check to see if you've received it. The report consists of four parts, the other seventeen attachments are related information…"
"Xu Xu." Ji Bai cut her off.
Xu Xu immediately stopped and waited for his instructions.
"It's four in the morning, you're waking your superior up to talk about an unimportant report. Do you not want to be in the Criminal Police Unit anymore?"
It was then that Xu Xu noticed the time on her computer: 4:07.
After a short silence, she replied, "I'm sorry, I didn't notice the time. Besides, you told me yesterday to send you the report before 6. It's before 6 now."
There was a brief silence on the other end, then she suddenly heard a soft laughter and Ji Bai's soft voice, "Tell me about it then, I'm awake now anyway."
"Oh."
She immediately started explaining. On the other end of the phone, various noises were heard. The clattering of a faucet, the clanking of windows being opened, and a clear ringing from a teaspoon knocking against the side of a cup.
Xu Xu suddenly remembered that when she video-called him yesterday, she heard somebody asking him to drink. It was midnight then.
'So, he was hungover and was woken up by my phone call?'
"Why are you distracted?" Ji Bai noticed her temporary pause and snapped at her.
Xu Xu continued.
The muffled static from the line had disappeared. Now, she could only hear the sound of him drawing long breaths - he was probably smoking. Xu Xu wrapped herself in a blanket and sat in front of her computer as she held onto her phone. All around her, it was cold and quiet, she could only hear her own voice and the occasional "Mmm" sounds from Ji Bai from time to time that reassured her that he was listening. They sounded casual but were deep and powerful.
All of a sudden, Xu Xu pictured an unrelated image of Ji Bai also wrapped in a blanket on his bed as they talked on the phone. That picture made her feel quite strange. She had no idea of what a tall and stern man would look like nesting cozily on the bed.
In her mind, the man's face was blurred. She had seen his picture from documents before and vaguely remembered that he had well-shaped features, but she was not too interested in the specifics. Rather, she spent her time studying the facial features of criminals through photos so that she could identify them at any time.
In reality, Ji Bai had in fact wrapped himself with a blanket such that he looked like a huge bear as he conversed with Xu Xu. The early spring in Beijing still had a chilliness that penetrated through one's skin. It was incredibly cold, especially before and after sunrise. Moreover, he only slept at three in the morning and had drank too much, so his head was aching. It felt like somebody was playing whack-a-mole with his head.
Xu Xu was very focused on reporting, but he did not actually listen to anything she had said nor was he looking at her report.
When he had previously looked at a report that she handed in, it was not just up to standard, it completely surpassed his expectations. Thus, when facing such a smart and self-disciplined subordinate, he need not waste his energy to check her work.
However, she did not need to know this. She still needed to harden herself.
The sky still seemed dark outside the window as Ji Bai lit a cigarette and shut his eyes. He snored semi-consciously and responded from time to time just to show that he was still listening. On top of the quiet surroundings, he realized that the lady sounded different from others. It was obvious that she had a gentle voice, yet she still spoke in a very low tone, which sounded quite soothing. The more he listened to her the more he wanted to sleep… Damn it, the end of his cigarette burnt him, causing him to be snapped awake, but he just leisurely mentioned, "Hmm, this part is written more in-depth," to cover for himself.
The next day, Xu Xu went to work with dark circles under her eyes.
Due to her pale skin and her small face, her eyebags were especially obvious. Once she entered the office, she felt as though a few people were staring at her. She sat down without looking sideways but quickly saw a bright red silk banner on her desk, accompanied by a bouquet of fresh white roses.
The silk banner read: "A courageous Samaritan, a heroic act."
The sender was Ye Jingxi.
So, it turned out that the woman she saved yesterday was called Ye Jingxi. Xu Xu felt that her name sounded familiar. She had heard it from the news.
No wonder she managed to find her so quickly and even sent her a silk banner.
"Pa pa pa", enthusiastic claps suddenly interrupted her thoughts. When Xu Xu looked up, she realized that everyone had now stood up and were clapping for her with big smiles on their faces.
"Salute!" Officer Wu who was in his forties sounded like a great bell as everyone else raised their right hands up at the same time to salute her.
Xu Xu immediately saluted them as well, but as she faced countless bright at smiling looks, her face felt slightly hot.
"Nice one, Xu Xu." Officer Wu praised her.
"Don't look down on Xu Xu because of her petite figure. When encountering a serious matter, she really acts like a hero." A scholarly-looking person said.
"Xu Xu, you saved Ye Zixi." Zhao Han smiled and said, "She is often interviewed and appears on magazines."
Xu Xu avoided their looks and replied conscientiously, "It was basic first aid procedure for treating bleeding wrists, I'm sure that all the seniors here would have done better than me. It's just that I happened to be there at the right time."
Everybody laughed and said that it was not such an easy task because she was still a newbie to the force.
When Xu Xu looked at their friendly smiles, she suddenly understood.
As compared to the job of a criminal police officer, what she did was indeed a trivial matter.
They were just taking the opportunity to help her blend into the Criminal Police Unit.
Xu Xu was quite touched, which made her blush. She sat down quietly as blood rushed to her cheeks.
Right then, Yao Meng smiled and said, "I suggest that we have lunch together later, to celebrate Xu Xu's act." At the same time, she signaled at Xu Xu. Xu Xu understood that she meant to let her grab the chance to get closer to everyone, so she nodded at her and agreed, "Yes, I'll treat everyone."
Everyone else laughed and commented on how they would not let a lady spend her money on them. Nonetheless, lunch was set.
After working for a while, Xu Xu was called to meet the station chief.
At first, the silk banner and flowers sent by Ye Zixi were sent directly to the station chief before being passed to her.
Ye Zixi was an executive of the Ye Group and was a renowned person in the city's business community, she also had good relations with the mayor and a number of government organizations. The station chief felt quite proud to have received a silk banner from her, so he praised Xu Xu thoroughly.
When the station chief noticed how quiet Xu Xu was, he was not very concerned, instead, he felt that she was being humble, so spoke to her with a smiling face, "You didn't mention your name yesterday, right? But when she called, I immediately knew that it was you."
Xu Xu nodded. "My physical features are rather unique for a police officer."
The station chief was stunned, but he could not help but laugh.
Their lunch venue was a small restaurant not far away from the police station. Everyone went in sets of twos or threes as Yao Meng walked arm in arm with Xu Xu. Xu Xu was not very used to it, but as she looked at her sparkling, friendly eyes, she told herself that it was not a bad position to be in.
As they were walking, Yao Meng turned and asked her, "Why did the station chief ask to see you? To praise you for saving somebody, right?"
Xu Xu nodded.
Yao Meng looked at her with a disappointed look, then said softly, "Why didn't you invite the station chief to have lunch with us too?"
Xu Xu was speechless, it had not crossed her mind at all.
Nevertheless, it was a delightful lunch.
Initially, Xu Xu was not aware that the men in the Criminal Police Unit were so kind and outspoken. Laughter could be heard throughout the lunch. On top of that, Yao Meng, who was beautiful and pleasing to the eye, took care of them and served everyone well, which made the atmosphere more warm and homely.
They even talked about Ji Bai. Officer Wu mentioned to them that "Captain Ji has not returned home for three years, so it will some time before he returns to Lin City."
Zhao Han added on, "The station chief also gave us special orders that you may disturb the captain during his break for any case-related matters."
Somebody even added, "Xu Xu, you must do well if you work under Captain Ji, it's not an opportunity that everyone gets."
Xu Xu kept nodding as she thought to herself, 'I didn't know that Captain Ji was so highly regarded in the unit.'
When they called for the bill, somebody stopped Xu Xu just as she took her purse out. A few men fought to pay for the meal before Zhao Han suddenly called aloud, "All of you, there's no need to fight as the meal is on Captain Ji."
Everyone stopped the second he said this. Zhao Han continued while he took his money out, "I just sent him a message that we're having a gathering and he told me to charge it to him."
Everyone nodded as they slowly put away their wallets. Just as Xu Xu was about to open her mouth to protest, she suddenly felt Yao Meng pinching her hand.
When she turned to look at her, she could see that Yao Meng's eyes were shining. Xu Xu did not understand what she was trying to do, but she did not ask.